Pluralism Essay

Below is a free essay on "Pluralism" from Anti Essays, your source for free research papers, essays, and term paper examples.

What is pluralism? It can in a political philosophical view be seen as an acknowledgment of diversity. Classical pluralism is the belief that politics and decision making is located mostly in the governmental framework, but many non-governmental groups are using their resources to exert influence.

Pluralism is based on the knowledge of politics being ruled by egoistical interests. Democracy itself is being practiced in a way where we vote for leaders, rather than having the people themselves making the decisions.

Pluralism brought in organizations to be some what of a buffer between individuals and the authorities. Decisions are then made in unison with interest groups and lobby groups. For this to work the government must protect the organizational rights to the different groups so no groups are undermined. The political decisions made by the power of the state are done through negotiations between the different interest groups and authorities. The government’s main role would be to help finding solutions the disagreeing groups are arguing over.

Pluralists’ conception of power is based on power not being a physical entity, power flows from a variety of different sources. There are also two different kinds of power, actual power and potential power. Actual power means the ability to compel someone to do something. Potential power refers to being able to turn resources into actual power. Resources for potential power are also believed to be available to nearly everyone.

In democratic politics, pluralism is a guiding principle which permits the peaceful coexistence of different interests, convictions and lifestyles. In this context it has normative connotations absent from its use to denote a theoretical standpoint. As mentioned earlier pluralism acknowledges the diversity of interests and considers it imperative that members of society accommodate their differences by engaging in good-faith negotiation.